ONDC Eyes Urban Mobility, Expansion To More Cities

The Open Network For Digital Commerce, which is trending on social media for cheaper food delivery via the network-enabled buyer apps, is working to expand its mobility arm—the subject of its initial pilot in 2020.

Currently, two such open network mobility applications are in operation: One in Kerala called Yatri, which lets customers hail taxi cabs; and the other in Bengaluru called Namma Yatri, which provides auto service within the city bounds.

More cities are expected to join the list and will soon feature on existing buyer apps, according to ONDC Chief Executive Officer Thampy Koshy.

This could mean cheaper rides sans surcharges on the fares for the general public. For drivers, it's a commission-free ride-booking system.

Dubbed a direct-to-driver platform, Namma Yatri claims that there is no commission or middlemen, giving the entire fare amount paid by the customer to the driver, according to its website.

Both apps are built by Juspay, while the Yatri app is operated by Juspay on behalf of the Kochi Metropolitan Transport Authority. The app is built on the back of common network standards defined by ONDC and the Beckn protocol (open source).

The aim, Koshy explained to BQ Prime, would be to allow interoperability where multiple buyer applications should be able to discover the same set of sellers even if they are registered only on one platform.

Here, this means a driver registered with one app can still be visible on another app as long as both apps have agreed to the common network standards.

According to an ONDC-McKinsey report, India's mobility market is expected to grow from $4 billion in the 2022 financial year to $10 billion by the 2030 fiscal.

The report said this growth could be on the back of rapid expansion in the two-wheeler and three-wheeler segments, which are expected to increase at a compound annual growth rate of 40–45% and 20–25% respectively through 2030.

It said the top seven cities in India account for more than 80% of the mobility market’s revenues, creating a concentration in the urban centres of the country. This markedly identifies that the urban mobility market is ripe for a open-source upgrade.

"Among platforms that have stared with food and grocery, now we are helping them integrate mobility also," Koshy told BQ Prime.

"We are also discussing with few other cities," he said. "In the next few months, I hope you'll see two–three cities come online, based on the kind of discussions and the early workings we are having with the possible platform providers."

ONDC Mobility clocks 30,000–35,000 transactions a day in Bengaluru, Koshy said. According to the website, the app has over half-a-million users till date and 47,000 registered drivers.

In Kerala, where the ONDC pilot began, the Yatri app is part of a larger plan to integrate all modes of state transportation through Kochi Open Mobility Network. Taxis on the Yatri app in Kochi see a volume of 500–600 rides a day, but this is growing as more driver partners join the network, Koshy said.

The initiative is also encouraged by the Kerala Metropolitan Transport Authority, which is coordinating the process.

Shaji Nair, who has recently assumed the leadership role at KMTA, said the proposal for an integrated common transportation network is awaiting government approval.

Applications from the Kerala State Road Transport Corp., metro and the water transportation have been received and are awaiting approval, Nair told BQ Prime.

While mobility is just a part of the aim, Koshy said the larger dream is to have every product or service provider, who has a catalogue of products that is being made available or used by a broad cross-section of buyers, available across apps.

"If anyone has a product or service which is relevant to a broad cross-section of buyers, then the idea is to make their catalogue visible in the open network using ONDC protocol and enable buyers to discover this, place an order and fulfil the order," Koshy said.